Distance is no longer a barrier to healthcare services: current state and future trends of telehealth research

PurposeTaking a business lens of telehealth, this article aims to review and provide a state-of-the-art overview of telehealth research.Design/methodology/approachThis research conducts a systematic literature review using the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol and a collection of bibliometric analytical techniques (i.e. performance analysis, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering and content analysis).FindingsUsing performance analysis, this article unpacks the publication trend and the top contributing journals, authors, institutions and regions of telehealth research. Using keyword co-occurrence and keyword clustering, this article reveals 10 major themes underpinning the intellectual structure of telehealth research: design and development of personal health record systems, health information technology (HIT) for public health management, perceived service quality among mobile health (m-health) users, paradoxes of virtual care versus in-person visits, Internet of things (IoT) in healthcare, guidelines for e-health practices and services, telemonitoring of life-threatening diseases, change management strategy for telehealth adoption, knowledge management of innovations in telehealth and technology management of telemedicine services. The article proposes directions for future research that can enrich our understanding of telehealth services.Originality/valueThis article offers a seminal state-of-the-art overview of the performance and intellectual structure of telehealth research from a business perspective.

It's part of the "new normal”: Does a global pandemic change employees' perception of teleworking?

This paper fills an important gap related to employee perceptions of teleworking during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the work/family border and task-technology fit theories, we propose and empirically test a new model using data collected from 483 employees. Our findings suggest that social well-being, work-family balance and task-technology fit during the pandemic are positively related to teleworking performance. In addition, teleworking performance during the pandemic affects employees' intention to continue to telework and career engagement after the pandemic. Also, we offer evidence of the impact of the moderating effect of factors contributing to the digital divide in this context. Our findings contribute to the teleworking literature, by proposing a model which provides insights into employees' perceptions of teleworking during the pandemic and how this affects their intention to telework and career engagement after the pandemic. Our research has multiple implications for employers, policy makers and technology developers.

Consumer interaction with cutting-edge technologies: Implications for future research

This article provides an overview of extant literature addressing consumer interaction with cutting-edge technologies. Six focal cutting-edge technologies are identified: artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, wearable technology, robotics and big data analytics. Our analysis shows research on consumer interaction with cutting-edge technologies is at a nascent stage, and there are several gaps requiring attention. To further advance knowledge, our article offers avenues for future interdisciplinary research addressing implications of consumer interaction with cutting-edge technologies. More specifically, we propose six main areas for future research namely: rethinking consumer behaviour models, identifying behavioural differences among different generations of consumers, understanding how consumers interact with automated services, ethics, privacy and the blackbox, consumer security concerns and consumer interaction with new-age technologies during and after a major global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Show me your mobile and I will tell you who you are: Forecasting consumer compassion and altruism behaviour through smartphone type and usage

Smartphones, as an integral part of human life, can now assist researchers in forecasting human behaviour patterns. Recently, the spread of COVID-19 increased people's reliance on their smartphones, and the resulting lockdown revealed them engaging in a variety of pro-social or virtue-based behaviours. Using the extended self-theory, previous research examined the effects of objects on the human mind and cognitive behaviour in order to identify behavioural segments in smartphone markets. Subsequently, scholars examined smartphone-based (iPhone vs. Android) virtue traits such as honesty and humility. However, other virtues such as compassion and altruism have received little attention in this regard. Thus, this study aims to bridge this gap by analysing the predictability of consumers' compassion and altruism in relation to their smartphone type (iPhone vs Android) and usage. A total of 509 completed questionnaires were received from participants in the United States, Europe, and Asia. According to the findings, iPhone users are more compassionate and altruistic than Android users. This study offers implications for marketers, retailers, and brands in developing strategies based on smartphone user behaviour.

Customer experiences in the age of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the way customers interact with brands. There is a lack of empirical research into AI-enabled customer experiences. Hence, this study aims to analyse how the integration of AI in shopping can lead to an improved AI-enabled customer experience. We propose a theoretical model drawing on the trust-commitment theory and service quality model. An online survey was distributed to customers who have used an AI- enabled service offered by a beauty brand. A total of 434 responses were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling. The findings indicate the significant role of trust and perceived sacrifice as factors mediating the effects of perceived convenience, personalisation and AI-enabled service quality. The findings also reveal the significant effect of relationship commitment on AI-enabled customer experience. This study contributes to the existing literature by revealing the mediating effects of trust and perceived sacrifice and the direct effect of relationship commitment on AI-enabled customer experience. In addition, the study has practical implications for retailers deploying AI in services offered to their customers.